Regenerating Livers in Organoid Size

Wake Forest University’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine has created liver organoids that mimic human fetal development and function. “The research is significant in two ways. First, the scientists showed that these organoids generated hepatocytes, the main functional cells of the liver. This achievement represents a milestone in work to create truly functional bioengineered liver tissue for transplantation into patients. Second, while other scientists have shown that lab-grown livers can generate bile ducts, this is the first study to show the stepwise maturation of bile ducts exactly as can be observed in the human fetal liver. Bile ducts carry bile, a fluid that is secreted by the liver and collected in the gall bladder to digest fats. This model of bile ductal development can potentially be used to study the hereditary disease biliary atresia that occurs in infants. With this disease, bile drainage is impaired, making it fatal in the more severe cases.” MORE